July 31, 2006

It was really hot outside today and it was such an
added blessing to be raw because I was not uncomfortable in the heat
and humidity at all.

Two guests had added some olive and coconut oil
to their salads, which I didn't eat, because it would have really made
it impossible for me to stop sweating in the heat (especially at night)
and would have made me very uncomfortable in the day, too.

Oil stops
the circulation and electricity in the body. It was so evident
yesterday that it's a boon to be raw in this tropical heat [Homestead, FL].

A cold wave came in last night from the NW and
the raw fooders put on jackets! Tim even remarked how cold it was.
The people who were at the party who were cooked food eaters were
comfortable.

I'm grateful that I have such perfect circulation, even
though I do get cold when the temperatures are below 85!

July 29, 2006

Wow, thanks very much for putting the events up on your page - that's very kind. I've just been taking a look through your site and think it is a fantastic resource - congratulations and thanks for all that you are doing.

James Bowen, M.D., A physician, biochemist, and survivor of aspartame poisoning
warns about yet another synthetic sweetener, Splenda.

HAWAII -- The
chemical sucralose, marketed as , aspartame has been forced out by
increasing public awareness that it is both a neurotoxin and an underlying cause
of chronic illness worldwide. Dr. James Bowen, Researcher and biochemist,
reports:

"Sucralose is a molecule of sugar chemically manipulated to surrender
three hydroxyl groups (hydrogen + oxygen) and replace them with three chlorine
atoms. Natural sugar is a hydrocarbon built around 12 carbon atoms. When turned
into Splenda it becomes a chlorocarbon, in the family of Chlorodane, Lindane and
DDT,

"It is logical to ask why table salt, which also contains chlorine,
is safe while Splenda/sucralose is toxic? Because salt isn't a chlorocarbon.
When molecular chemistry binds sodium to chlorine to make salt carbon isn't
included. Sucralose and salt are as different as oil and water.

"Unlike
sodium chloride, chlorocarbons are never nutritionally compatible with our
metabolic processes and are wholly incompatible with normal human metabolic
functioning. When chlorine is chemically reacted into carbon-structured organic
compounds to make chlorocarbons, the carbon and chlorine atoms bind to each
other by mutually sharing electrons in their outer shells. This arrangement
adversely affects human metabolism because our mitochondrial and cellular enzyme
systems are designed to completely utilize organic molecules containing carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and other compatible nutritional elements.

"By this process chlorocarbons such as sucralose deliver chlorine
directly into our cells through normal metabolization. This makes them effective
insecticides and preservatives. Preservatives must kill anything alive to
prevent bacterial decomposition."

Dr. Bowen believes ingested
chlorocarbon damage continues with the formation of other toxins: "Any
chlorocarbons not directly excreted from the body intact can cause immense
damage to the processes of human metabolism and, eventually, our internal
organs. The liver is a detoxification organ which deals with ingested poisons.
Chlorocarbons damage the hepatocytes, the liver's metabolic cells, and destroy
them. In test animals Splenda produced swollen livers, as do all chlorocarbon
poisons, and also calcified the kidneys of test animals in toxicity studies. The
brain and nervous system are highly subject to metabolic toxicities and solvency
damages by these chemicals. Their high solvency attacks the human nervous system
and many other body systems including genetics and the immune function. Thus,
chlorocarbon poisoning can cause cancer, birth defects, and immune system
destruction. These are well known effects of Dioxin and PCBs which are known
deadly chlorocarbons."

Dr. Bowen continues: "Just like aspartame, which
achieved marketplace approval by the Food and Drug Administration when animal
studies clearly demonstrated its toxicity, sucralose also failed in clinical
trials with animals. Aspartame created brain tumors in rats. Sucralose has been
found to shrink thymus glands (the biological seat of immunity) and produce
liver inflammation in rats and mice.

"In the coming months we can expect
to see a river of media hype expounding the virtues of Splenda/sucralose. We
should not be fooled again into accepting the safety of a toxic chemical on the
blessing of the FDA and saturation advertising. In terms of potential long-term
human toxicity we should regard sucralose with its chemical cousin DDT, the
insecticide now outlawed because of its horrendous long term toxicities at even
minute trace levels in human, avian, and mammalian tissues.

"Synthetic
chemical sweeteners are generally unsafe for human consumption. This toxin was
given the chemical name "sucralose" which is a play on the technical name of
natural sugar, sucrose. One is not the other. One is food, the other is toxic;
don't be deceived."

Dr. Bowen also calls attention to another seldom
recognized and deadly permanent effect of these chemicals: "Aspartame, sold as
NutraSweet, Equal, E951, Canderel, Benevia and under other names, is a
hypersensitization agent which causes Polychemical Sensitivity syndrome.
Chlorocarbons strongly induce uncurable hypersensitivity diseases which are now
becoming rampant." (James Bowen, M.D.)

Doctor Bowen has spent 20 years
researching artificial sweeteners after his use of aspartame resulted in being
diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. Dr Bowen's intention is to warn the world
of the toxicity of tabletop poisons like aspartame, Splenda and Neotame.

Dr. Betty Martini says "the controversy rages over Splenda (sucralose).
Is it safe and natural like sugar or is it a chlorinated hydrocarbon? As
lawsuits fly, consider the chemistry of this artificial compound."

She adds:
"The FDA denied approval of aspartame for 16 years, then caved in to
political/economic pressure when Don Rumsfeld, CEO of the manufacturer, was
brought to Washington by Ronald Reagan. A new FDA Commissioner was appointed to
approve it then became a consultant for NutraSweet's public relations firm for
$1,000/day on a 10 year contract. Forthcoming has been a global epidemic of
disability and death. One might expect FDA to be more cautious next time, yet
FDA approved the toxic chlorocarbon Splenda without hesitation and without any
long term testing on human subjects."

Open Spaces: My Life with Leonard J. Mountain Chief,Blackfeet Elder from Northwest Montana- by Jay North (Jay’s books are available at www.GoingOrganic.com)- book review by Jim Carey

Dr. Ann Wigmore taught that all healing is physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. In the Wigmore program we teach at Creative Health Institute and chiDiet.com we emphasize the physical aspect of healing. We mention the other aspects, but leave the teaching of those to others.

Well, most of the time we do. After reading this book I felt compelled to share some spiritually motivated comments.

In January of ’99 I had just retired, sold almost all I owned, and started my personal spiritual journey. I’d been a scientist and a rationalist all my life, but had found that science couldn’t answer the Really Interesting questions. So I left science and engineering to pursue my search for Truth.

In that pursuit I’ve read hundreds of books, listened to dozens of lectures, and surprised myself as I evolved from religionist to theologian to philosopher.

Which brings me to Jay North’s book.

When I was handed this book as a 200 page typed, double-spaced manuscript, I took it home expecting to breeze through it in a couple of hours. Instead, it took me two weeks to digest. I could only read a few pages at a time before I had to stop and think about the message Jay was sharing. Very few books move me that way.

In my spiritual research I was attracted to American Indian spiritual lore, but until this book I’d found little documentation of the broad overview that this book gives, and none so clearly, simply written.

What I found in this book was an excellent summary of my last seven years of philosophical studies. I’ve reached an outlook on the Nature of the Universe that is virtually identical with that of Leonard J. Mountain Chief, Blackfeet Elder.

I found, much to my surprise, that after all that research and study, I’ve finally reached the level of Spiritual Consciousness that the Blackfeet Indians achieved centuries ago.

Before reading this book I also believed that, in one’s search for Truth, one must trod the path through Plato, Aristotle, Aristophanes, Zarathustra, Krishna, Buddha, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Francis of Assisi, Aquinas, Moore, Szekely, Redfield, Dyer, Hawkins, et. al., in order to reach the conclusions I’ve reached.

Instead, Jay gives us the summary in short, clear words, as given by his mentor, Chief Leonard. This is the summary and concise statements that I didn’t think existed.

Excerpts from Open Spaces: My Life with Leonard J. Mountain Chief,Blackfeet Elder from Northwest Montana:

“Just as a dieter will regain weight after they come off the diet and resume their old eating habits, the seeker of real change must be willing to make a real lifestyle change. It is easy to be enthusiastic for a short period of time to achieve a goal, but the true test of commitment will be a change of the heart… a life of service.”

“Everything is perfect all of the time, even when you don’t think it is.”

“… our true purpose for being here… is Love, and the true unfoldment of the Spirit… there is no higher purpose than to love another… We cannot simply examine this thing; we must experience it in order to fulfill our destiny.”

“The Spirit always looks after you.”

“Now is a time of paramount importance for all people to hear the message of loving each other and our world, the message of being at peace with one another and our world, and the message of finding joy in each other and in our world.”

Thank you, Jay North, for sharing your experiences with Chief Leonard with us. How blessed you were to have them! Every Spiritual Seeker should read this book and become enlightened by it. I find in it… Truth.

I have been enjoying your Newsletter for some months now. Since eating many
more vegetables and snacking on tomatoes and avocadoes my good health is become
exceptional good health. Today I am noticing less cellulite and firmer finger
nails. Thank you for the work you do.

July 28, 2006

If you've been a reader of mine for any length of time at all, you no doubt know how I feel about soy. If you don't, here's a brief summary of it: soy should be outlawed.

Despite its status as darling of the vegetarian "meat martyrs," soy is NOT a health food. In fact, it's neither healthy nor is it food, if your definition of that word includes some measure of actual nourishment. And it isn't merely worthless as a food, it's downright harmful.

Hundreds of studies have linked soy proteins and derivatives to:

Heart disease

Cancer, especially of the breast

Allergies and reduced immunity

Thyroid dysfunction

Malnutrition and digestive problems

Nutrient deficiencies, including calcium (vital for the prevention of osteoporosis)

Reproductive disorders

Cognitive and mental decline

and more

And these are just the NATURAL side effects of soy foodstuffs. I shudder to think of how many other ills we're risking by ingesting the residues of the acid and alkaline baths, petroleum solvents, and God knows how many other hazardous chemicals involved in the manufacture of some of the most common soy variants...

These facts notwithstanding, soy byproducts and proteins have found their way into just about everything - usually in the place of truly healthy animal-based fats: Milk and milk substitutes, cheeses, yogurts, desserts, breakfast foods, and even many burger patties have some degree of soy content nowadays.

In fact, it's estimated that 60% of the refined foods on store shelves and sold in fast-food joints have some kind of harmful soy protein in them. And if those madcaps over at the Food and Drug Administration have it their way, the amount of soy Americans are consuming will likely double in the very near future.

Why? Because they're about to allow the manufacturers of every Twinkie, breakfast cereal, veggie burger, energy bar, milk substitute, and every other doggone thing under the sun with harmful soy protein or byproduct in it to claim that it PREVENTS CANCER.

Yep, you read that right.

Despite the findings of stacks of bona-fide research, the FDA is about to buckle yet again to the Big Food business (like it did with that Food Pyramid farce) and let them claim their soy- and sugar-saturated junk as the key to dodging cancer.

Absurd as the notion is, the FDA is about to give a big rubber stamp to refined-food makers that says "Prevents Cancer" on it. This, despite the fact that many toxicology texts list the plant estrogens found in soy protein products as CARCINOGENS.

How can this happen, you ask? As usual, it's all about money. This move will mean billions in the pockets of American food makers, and who knows how many needless corpses in American morgues... What really kills me is that the FDA doesn't think we're smart enough to see how shamelessly profit-driven this shenanigan is.

Think about it: There are lots of safe, natural substances out there that REALLY DO prevent cancer. But does the FDA allow makers of these things to make that claim? Of course not. The supplement and natural foods industries represent an insignificant source of income for the government next to the food business. Besides, people might stop taking those expensive drugs if they knew about the benefits of vitamins, herbs, minerals, and truly healthy foods - that would mean less money in the Feds' pockets in taxes and drug application and approval fees. But since the food industry will flood the government with corporate tax revenues generated by the sale of soy-inclusive products, they get to claim these foods prevent cancer.

You see, it doesn't matter if it's true, as long as it's truly profitable. As you know, I don't often try to rally my readers to action. With a couple of notable exceptions in the past, I prefer to inform and expose, then let folks decide for themselves whether or not to get involved. But this time, I'm urging anyone who cares about not only their health, but their rights to unbiased government oversight of big business to take action now - because the clock is ticking... The FDA must hear from Americans in sufficient numbers to make them think twice about giving the food industry carte blanche to bill their junk foods as the "magic bullet" for cancer.

[While I don't agree with Dr. Douglass about consuming animal protein, my research into soy is in full agreement with his statements. See http://chidiet.com/problemswithsoy.htm for research links. - Jim]

(Reuters) - People who ate a low-fat vegan diet, cutting out all meat and dairy, lowered their blood sugar more and lost more weight than people on a standard American Diabetes Association diet, researchers said on Thursday.

Participants said the vegan diet was easier to follow because they did not measure portions or count calories.

Thanks so much for your ongoing efforts with Raw Food News - I really enjoy it. Do you know what your circulation is?

I liked your before & after pix of yourself - you put them in the newsletter once. I didn't see them on your website - but have wanted to pass them on to others. Can you send them or refer me to where to find your story?

Thank you for your newsletter, I have been receiving and befitting from it for quite awhile now.

I
would like to ask you a question, however, I was wondering about green
tea. It is supposed to be a good antioxidant, but I never hear
anything about the caffeine being bad or good. Sometimes I am so tired
I just need a pick-me-up, so I drink green tea for the caffeine, but I
don't know if that is good or not. I am a breast cancer survivor who
took no chemo or radiation and I am very careful about my diet. Could
you answer this question for me? Thank you,

Lorraine Williams
--------------------------------

Dr. Ann Wigmore taught that the caffeine in tea is OK, in
moderation, but the type of caffeine in coffee is a poison. We drank
the occasional teas, especially green tea, when I was Director at
Creative Health Institute in Michigan.

The Union of Concerned Scientists has released a survey of scientists who work for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The survey reveals that one-fifth of FDA scientists "have been asked, for non-scientific reasons, to inappropriately exclude or alter technical information or their conclusions in a FDA scientific document."

The study strongly suggests that the FDA is not adequately regulating products that significantly impact public health, including food, drugs, vaccines, and medical devices. The survey also indicates that 61 percent of the respondents knew of cases where FDA political appointees have "inappropriately injected themselves into FDA determinations or actions." Eighty-one percent of FDA scientists in the survey agreed that the "public would be better served if the independence and authority of FDA post-market safety systems were strengthened." http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_1179.cfm

In Ambrosia (White Crosslet Publishing Co., Publication date: August 23, 2006), Marc Anthony Hatsis celebrates the pure, simple beauty of raw food. Pairing recipes with his own meditative, mandala-inspired drawings, Hatsis gives readers the first raw-food preparation and menu book to offer perfectly combined meals for ultimate digestive health. Including such dishes as blueberry pudding, pineapple soup, avocado savoury, and a variety of salads, Ambrosia promotes the healing benefits and increased energy level of a minimalist, highly conscious way of eating. Arranged seasonally and zodiacally, and including a foreword by renowned cardiologist Aleksey Yurenev, this is a book that presents food as nourishment for both body and soul.

At a time when food is more processed, manipulated, and potentially harmful than ever before, readers and consumers need to be guided toward better food choices. A dedicated and well informed raw foodist himself, Hatsis offers this guidance. As he explains in his introduction, “Avoiding wrong food choices is essential for well-being. When you embrace raw fruits and vegetables as your exclusive diet, radiant health will appear. A natural diet combined with right thought, speech, and action is the essential way in coming to know yourself.”

But Ambrosia is more than just a food preparation book. It is also an artist’s monograph, an artist’s vision, in which the drawings meld perfectly with the subject matter. Just as a raw-food diet creates a feeling of wholeness, Hatsis’s book is a satisfying whole. His mandalas are meticulously rendered sections of fruit—symmetrical and beautifully complete. Ambrosia is a book that will be as at home on the coffee table as it is in the kitchen.

Marc Anthony Hatsis is an artist, author, and publisher. He formed White Crosslet Publishing to bring together his passions for art, books, food, and nature. He was the owner of Moonflower Gallery, from 1989-1996, has been a commercial real estate developer and is now dedicated to life as an artist and publisher.

For more information on Ambrosia and forthcoming White Crosslet publications, contact Marc Anthony Hatsis at publisher@whitecrosslet.com or (917) 478-4116.

Nearly half a century after DDT was first dumped across acres of North American farmland and three decades after it was banned in the United States and Canada, the toxic pesticide still has damaging effects on local species, according to a new study: http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_1209.cfm.

A University of Arizona professor has invented a sticker that can tell consumers if a fruit or vegetable is ripe. The stickers will be available to growers next year and should make their way to supermarkets within two to three years, said Mark Riley, a UA assistant professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2241076.

In April the Organic Consumers Association launched a boycott of two leading organic dairy brands and distributors, Horizon (a division of Dean Foods) and Aurora, for mislabeling their products as "USDA Organic." All of Aurora's and much of Horizon's "organic" milk is coming from factory farm feedlots where the cows have been brought in from conventional farms and have little or no access to pasture. After three months, thousands of consumers and a number of co-ops and natural food stores have joined the boycott: http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/oca/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=4756.

Just a quick word of warning about recommendations of raw foods containing alfalfa seeds. These are widely considered to exacerbate lupus and I have experienced this myself while following a living food supplement course. I became very unwell for a period of several weeks.

At that time I was unaware of the negative effects of this sprout. However, it was apparent to me that the lupus flare coincided with the living foods and that it ceased to exacerbate when I stopped taking them.

This fact seems to be overlooked by most. It is important that lupus sufferers are informed of any alfalfa content and possible consequences.

Just wanted to tell you that I love this: "... you can't STAND the smell of any kind of Fast Food no matter how delicious it's supposed to be, and you can detect who has just eaten a greasy burger by noticing the odor of Fast Food Ooze coming out of that person's skin."

I am not 100% raw, but do eat vegan and it is sooo true about fast food. The smell is utterly disgusting!

A major shake down is brewing for the pharmaceutical industry following increasing reports of manipulating drug trial data, doctors and the government to increase sales and profits. A recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine published a correction on a study it published on Rofecoxib (Vioxx) – the now withdrawn pain-killer that is estimated to have damaged or killed up to 140,000 Americans – stating that increased cardiovascular risks were visible as early as four months into treatment, rather than the 18 months that Merck had claimed.

There are now an estimated 10,000 court cases outstanding against Vioxx manufacturer Merck – 400 of which are brought by patients in the UK who claim to have been damaged by the drug and not properly warned about the risks. The cost of legal actions to Merck has been put at between $5 and $50 billion. [1] As of April 2006, just six cases had been heard. In three, the plaintiffs were awarded damages running into millions of dollars. We don’t hear so much about this in the UK because plaintiffs here have been refused legal aid and insurers will not fund no-win, no-fee cases, so no cases can be brought.

This might sound like old news but this kind of manipulation of data is finally sounding big alarm bells within the medical profession. After all, commercial drug testing centres, funded by the company making the drug, are four times more likely to come up with favourable results than independent ones. [2] How can doctors know the science they’re being sold is free from spin?

Another shocking example recently emerged on a trial of the anti-depressant Seroxat. The summary at the start of the research paper, which is the only part most doctors read, claimed that Seroxat was ‘well tolerated and effective’.[3] But when a team of independent scientists looked at the whole paper, they found this: ‘Out of 93 children given Seroxat, 11 had serious ADRs [adverse drug reactions] compared with 2 in the placebo group’. [4] Just how serious? ‘Seven of these children were admitted to hospital during treatment.’

This kind of deceptive reporting in what are supposed to be objective research reports is making the medical profession increasingly nervous. After all, this is what they rely on to practice safe medicine. On 8 July 2006, the British Medical Journal ran an editorial suggesting that drug companies should not be allowed to evaluate their own products. Instead, to get their drugs tested and licensed they would contribute to a central pot for independent, publicly-funded clinical trials.

But, of course, it doesn’t stop there. Clinical practice guidelines advise doctors on the drugs to use for various conditions. However, 80 per cent of the academics who write them have financial links with the companies whose products they are recommending. [5] [6]

Then, of course, there’s the wining and dining of doctors. Drug companies in America spend around $15 billion a year on marketing, which is about half the amount they spend on research and development. [7] A big chunk of this is spent selling drugs to doctors who have to clock up a certain number of days of ‘continuing medical education’, paid for, you guessed it, largely by the pharmaceutical industry.

A recent article in the American Medical Association’s journal of ethics wants to put an end to this. ‘Only continuing medical education activities that are entirely free of pharmaceutical industry funding should qualify as education,’ they write. Continuing education should be funded by doctors, not drug companies, say the authors. And just in case you think these companies behave differently elsewhere, in the UK for instance, this is what the 2005 Parliamentary health committee investigation, The Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry, found: ‘[it] buys influence over doctors, charities, patient groups, journalists and politicians, whose regulation is sometimes weak or ambiguous.’

In the wake of the Vioxx scandal, the US FDA, the agency charged with protecting the public from the dangers of drugs, has been heavily criticised for not responding fast enough to problems with drugs, for being too close to the drug companies and for not devoting enough attention and resources to safety once a drug had been licensed.

In May, a report by the US government’s General Accounting Office made damning criticisms of the FDA, saying that the agency ‘did not to have clear policies for addressing drug safety issues and that it sometimes excludes its best safety experts from important meetings’. Not only was it slow to respond but ‘the agency’s entire system for reviewing the safety of drugs already on the market is too limited and broadly flawed’. [8]

The pharmaceutical industry begs to differ. A spokesman from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry explicitly referred to the existing state of affairs between all the parties concerned – except for patients – and implied that as far as they were concerned, it was working fine. ‘The challenge is to acknowledge there is a contract between industry, regulators and health service which recognises that there is a trade-off between risks and benefits.’ [9]

With an estimated death toll of over 10,000 Britons every year from adverse drug reactions, and over 40,000 made seriously ill enough to require hospitalisation, that’s one hell of a trade off. [10]

‘Full spectrum dominance’ is the stated aim of the American military. It involves being ready ‘to defeat any adversary and control any situation across the range of military operations’. Not a bad description of what the pharmaceutical industry has achieved across the whole field of prescription drugs, from creating to selling. Besides dominating the clinical trials production line, the drug companies have also found ways of exerting control over researchers, medical journals, doctors and even patient groups. The industry’s strategy for maintaining their full spectrum dominance all the way down the drug chain is very simple – they pay for it.

‘Something is very wrong,’ writes Dr John Abramson of Harvard University in his brilliant and disturbing book Overdosed America, ‘with a system that leads patients to demand and doctors to prescribe a drug that provides no better relief and causes significantly more side effects’.

These recent and growing recommendations to sever the financial and information stranglehold big pharma has on medicine may, at last, provide a more level playing field in which it will become increasingly obvious that, for most chronic diseases, nutrition works better than drugs. It’s time we stopped swallowing what the drug industry tells us.

July 25, 2006

"We’re all huddled around our computers the way we gathered around the fire in ancient times. The Internet is the global campfire where we all come to for the latest news and stories." - Jinjee, http://www.thegardendiet.com/.

The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself... Almost inevitably, he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable. - H. L. Mencken, American Writer 1880-1956

"If we - that is, society - switched to a vegetarian diet, atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, which accounts for most heart disease, would vanish." - William Roberts, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Cardiology

July 22, 2006

(Toronto Sun) I've wanted to visit the Live Organic Food Bar for some time because it's unique on the Toronto food scene and I thought it would make a good review, not because I was expecting a great meal.

This is one of 3 events I would like to bring to your attention that I will be presenting in NYC I shall send the other 2 separately

Thanks so much for including them in the newsletter....... and i was particularly moved that you printed that letter re "Living Foods" (patent) in the most recent newsletter- i thought it showed tremendous courage and a spaciousness unparalleled beyond anything i have thus far seen in the Raw, Living foods Community!! BRAVO!!!!!!!!!

You need to know that I am really enjoying your newsletters. I pass on a significant amount of the information to my Sunrider group. By the way, I am now teaching some raw food prep. demonstrations to very warm reviews. I have a growing following of green smoothie faithfuls!

I appreciate your time and the creative energy I get to experience every Saturday.

Sincerely,Heide

- Heide's referring to my weekly newsletter at http://chidiet.com/news/, which was the source of much of the material on this blog. - Jim

I get your daily email.Thanks. I feel so alone. Yet I live in Santa Cruz County CA., an easy place to get organic vegetables and spouts.

I swear sprouts give me a high.I am a graduate of Optimum Health Institute.I eat organic salads made with sprouts and some fruit, hummus and some crackers, some nuts.Someday soon I may get into wheat grass.

I eat hummus from the health food store. Do you know of any problems with eating hummus?

I can get into trouble not drinking enough water.

Thanks for your email.Tessie Kennedy-------------------

Agreed on all points. I love hummus (organic); it's one of my comfort foods.

But lately, as I've been raw for some time now, I find it quite rich and can only eat a small amount at a time.

Summary: Soy may have beneficial uses like boosting estrogen levels in menopausal women (and in men to inhibit testosterone), providing antioxidants, and lowering thyroid output for those who have the unusual problem of excess thyroid production, but for others, it may not be wise to eat large amounts daily.

Soy is controversial. Some say it is a healthy source of protein, nutrients, and fiber. Others think it can cause problems like hormonal imbalance, low thyroid output, and allergies, not even considering the new worry some have about how common genetically modified soy now is.

July 20, 2006

(Angela Stokes) I'm amazed. I've just finished a 10 day training course on a tiny, remote island in the west fjords of Norway and despite whatever fears I arrived with about what I would be eating, I have easily survived, without compromising my food choices.

Not just survived in fact, but actually thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I am left with the inspiring feeling that if it is possible to be 100% raw vegan here, it could be possible anywhere: http://www.rawreform.com; go to News Archives, and scroll down to Newsletter 4.

you rawk!you are rawsome!i read every word of your newsletters!i look forward to them always!i love colors!i do get a bit frustrated with the slowness of my dial-up at home (i have the opposite hi-tech at work),and the gurgling and sometimes not being able to get some pictures - but for me, it's the words that soak in.the more radical and plainly spoken, the better.thank you very much.i am grateful for you and your newsletter and the raw food movement.

July 19, 2006

(The Independent - UK) Ask the natural health groupies and, these days, you'll find
they've given the vitamin jar the boot. "Superfoods" are the big
nutrition thing. We're not
talking about your humble broccoli or nuts. Instead, it's foods such as
spirulina, wheatgrass or sprouts that are so packed with nutrients, a
mere handful should give you the daily dose of vitamins and minerals
you need: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1170365.ece.